RE: "Technical Writing as a Part of User Experience"

[Slager Timothy J <Timothy -dot- Slager -at- dematic -dot- com>]

Yeah, that doesn't work very well. I find it more effective to go and ask a lot of stupid questions: "I don't understand this. Do you mean this or that?" "Why is this field labeled differently from (or the same as) that one?" "What does this mean?"

When they explain it to you, they sometimes provide good answers. Other times they go, "Hmm, I see what you mean." Then you kid them about not knowing who they are designing for, being too smart for their own good, and making usable interfaces. Sometimes that gets results; sometimes not.

tims

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+timothy -dot- slager=dematic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+timothy -dot- slager=dematic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Keith Hood
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:14 PM
To: Caroline Tabach
Cc: TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)
Subject: Re: "Technical Writing as a Part of User Experience"

I tried for years to get developers to let me get involved with the UI -
tool tips, wording on the control labels, etc. It always came down to
defending their territory.

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 1:32 AM, Caroline Tabach <caroline -dot- tabach -at- gmail -dot- com>
wrote:

> There is no doubt that the basic idea is correct, very much so.
>
> If the GUI is good, clear and correctly done, you need much less technical
> writing.
>
> If the writer is brought in at the beginning and understands what the
> application must do, they can give good input on the UI, and advocate for
> the user.
>
> Only today someone asked me; "Isn't your job just to document? What have
> you  got to do with the UI?"
>
> But I think we should give suggestions, if possible; the earlier the
> better.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 4:59 PM, Bruce Megan (BT-CO/MKW) <
> Megan -dot- Bruce -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > It's funny....this is what I have been preaching to my engineers, UXers,
> > and basically anyone who will listen.  After 15 years of annoyance, they
> > have finally started listening....
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Megan Bruce
> > BT-CO/MKW
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+megan -dot- bruce=us -dot- bosch -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > <techwr-l-bounces+megan -dot- bruce=us -dot- bosch -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> On Behalf
> > Of Cardimon, Craig
> > Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 8:52 AM
> > To: 'TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)' <
> techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > >
> > Subject: "Technical Writing as a Part of User Experience"
> >
> > Interesting read. See if you can access it.
> >
> > https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2Flevel-up-web%2Ftechnical-writing-as-a-&data=01%7C01%7CTimothy.Slager%40dematic.com%7C41fc502473924bec13d608d5c0182c82%7Cb87688c18bb44f8698754da105de8eda%7C0&sdata=F0rNQ2Mc70mHPPIlKq7k3tUaBy2AootosNM%2Bg3AdP2E%3D&reserved=0
> > part-of-user-experience-2cfd97554d09
> >
> > Cordially,
> > Craig Cardimon | Senior Technical Writer
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
> --
> Caroline Tabach
> Technical/Marcom Writer
> e-mail: caroline -dot- tabach -at- gmail -dot- com
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